Mortality in parents following the death of a child: a nationwide follow-up study from Sweden

Rostila, Mikael; Saarela, Jan; Kawachi, Ichiro

doi:10.1136/jech-2011-200339

Cited by 119 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

123

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…When comparing different kinds of adult bereavement, grief reactions proved to be most intense for bereaved parents (Sanders 1979;Middleton et al 1998). Losing a child is so devastating that it can increase the risk of psychiatric hospitalization and mortality in the grieving parent (Li et al 2003(Li et al , 2005Rostila et al 2012). The love of parents for their children is uniquely strong and enduring, as children give meaning and a sense of purpose to their parents' lives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporary and Long-Term Consequences of Bereavement on Happiness

Moor

Graaf

2015

J Happiness Stud

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, we examine the temporary and long-term consequences of the death of a parent or child on happiness. According to set-point theory external conditions are expected to only have a short-term or limited influence on happiness. This directly contradicts the basic assumption of affective theories on happiness, which states that major life-events have a lasting influence on well-being. Moreover, we test whether the association between bereavement and happiness is equally strong across the life course. To test our hypotheses we make use of the fourth wave of the European Values Study. Our research findings demonstrate that people who lost their father, mother or child are more likely to feel unhappy than people without this experience. Ten years after the death of a parent or child we still find a significant difference in happiness between people who have and have not experienced this loss. The assumption of set-point theory, that major life evens only have a temporary impact on SWB, is not supported by our data. Moreover, the association between bereavement and SWB strongly differs across the life-course. We might even conclude that the age at which the loss occurred is more decisive for the strength of the association between bereavement and SWB than the duration of the loss.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporary and Long-Term Consequences of Bereavement on Happiness

Moor

Graaf

2015

J Happiness Stud

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Studies have measured patterns of attachment and adjustment outcomes as well as how gender, being either a mother or a father, can influence a risk of poor bereavement and an increased risk of mortality. Also, the circumstances of the death has been cited as a factor that contributes to a more traumatic experience for parents [4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parents’ Experiences of When an Adult Child Is Seriously Ill—“It Does Not Matter That It Is a Grown-Up Person, They Are Still Your Child”

Molander¹

2015

JHS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose and Topic: A longer life expectancy is expected to rise continuously in all populations on all continents. Older parents are at risk of having to accompany their adult children through a severe illness, sometimes even to their death. The present study investigates the experiences of being a parent to an adult child with a severe illness and what support was helpful during the child's period of illness. Method: A qualitative approach with in-depth interviews which were analyzed using content analysis. Results: The results showed that a common perception was that it is very special to have a child with a severe illness. The underlying elements of existential experience and the relationship both influenced the parents' conceptions of life and permeated the whole situation. There were four areas that the parents found important and influenced how they could manage the situation: having information, participation, strategies to cope with the situation, and support. Conclusions: Accompanying an adult child through a severe and potentially fatal disease in the context of a growing elderly population will become an increasingly frequent problem. So far there is limited research in this area and more research should be a high priority in the future.

show abstract

“…When discussing CMR, in one sense, using rates distances us, but rates are statistics, numbers are real children. One practical feature must be the accumulative societal impact of high child mortality as bereavement itself is damaging to family health [49,50]. Losing a child must be one of the worst and bitter tragedies for any parent in whatever world region and should be a focus of future research.…”

Section: Governmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing GDP Health and Military Expenditure, Poverty and Child Mortality of 71 Countries from Different Regions

Pritchard¹,

Keen²

2017

International Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Child mortality rates (CMR) indicate how a nation meets the needs of its children, so relative to their region, do some countries 'neglect' their children? Using William Penn (1693) statement 'It's a reproach to religion and government to suffer so much poverty and excess' to judge nations CMR from three world regions within the context of poverty, health and military gross domestic product (GDP) expenditure data. West (n = 21): USA, New Zealand and Canada are a reproach-Sweden, Japan Finland and Norway are commended. Asia (n = 17]: Pakistan, Myanmar and India are a reproach. Singapore and Thailand commended. Sub-Saharan Africa (n = 33): Relative to their region, Madagascar and Namibia are commended. Twelve countries failed the United Nations (UN) target, including the relatively rich Nigeria and South Africa. Poverty and higher CMR are linked in all three regions. Relative poverty and military expenditures correlated in the West but not in the other regions. In the pursuit of social justice, societies need to be alerted to the extent of the impact of poverty on child mortality even though some countries will find this challenging.

show abstract

Mortality in parents following the death of a child: a nationwide follow-up study from Sweden

Abstract: These findings corroborate and extend earlier findings suggesting elevated mortality risks also following the death of an adult child.

Cited by 119 publications

References 39 publications

Temporary and Long-Term Consequences of Bereavement on Happiness

Temporary and Long-Term Consequences of Bereavement on Happiness

Parents’ Experiences of When an Adult Child Is Seriously Ill—“It Does Not Matter That It Is a Grown-Up Person, They Are Still Your Child”

Comparing GDP Health and Military Expenditure, Poverty and Child Mortality of 71 Countries from Different Regions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About